Let me explain. We have an ant problem. Not a little ant problem, a gargantuan ant problem. And they seem to be drawn to anything--even cat food. No matter how scrupulously clean I keep our floors, they're back, time and time again the second a crumb drops. And we all know that if you're human and you eat, a crumb will surely drop from time to time. And since we have three humans in particular who do eat very messily, the ants love us. We're like Thanksgiving every day. We tried a few ant traps, but we were at our wits' end, because those actually attracted more, and I don't really want a gets-better-before-it-gets-worse solution. It became even more painfully urgent this morning, though, when I discovered Savvy happily lying under the table, contemplating (with her fingers and mouth) the HERD of ants converging on some of her potato leftovers. I very nearly screamed, it was so disgusting. (It's good they aren't fire ants, or the neighbors would've heard a madwoman on the loose, screaming bloody murder while she beats at the side of her house uselessly with a broom.) So I googled "getting rid of ants", and wouldn't you know, a page with about 15 possible remedies popped up! It also mentioned that different ants like different tastes. Hm. Ours probably like ANYTHING, seeing how EVERYTHING is dropped on the floor by our three sweeties in the beginning stages of cleanliness and eating. (Reed is quite clean for a five-year-old, but simply filthy for a swarm of hungry ants.)
So I've used a couple of remedies right away, and we'll see how well they work--I'm just happy that I have several different ideas to choose from, and the majority of them are cheap and not dangerous to kids (or at least minimally). The first thing I did was to dump the rest of our white vinegar
outside where the baseboards are that they use for entry. The second thing I did was to sprinkle freshly-ground pepper in that same site and in the house all around the baseboards and under Savanna's high chair and Jaxon's booster seat. It sounds like I'm making a meal of my house, doesn't it? "Once you've doused the baseboards in vinegar, sprinkle them generously with freshly-ground pepper, then let bake in the sun at 65 degrees for twelve hours." Delicious.We will probably put some caulk under the baseboards tonight, too, just to really trap the ants in their vinegar & pepper prison.
P.S.-Neighbors, please don't mind the strong and weird smell by our front door when and if you decide to visit. It's just our meal of gourmet house.
5 comments:
I have heard that if you leave cream of wheat on your floors, the ants eat it, and then it expands inside of them and kills them. Nice huh? lol.
We have a huge anthill on our front walk. It's next to the garage, so we don't have a problem in the house, but I would like to get rid of them.
And about Savanna eating ants? When we lived in Arizona, we had a "little black beetle" problem. They were everywhere. And no matter how much I killed them, I routinely found them in Chloe's diaper. Shudder.
OH! BWA-BWA-BARF! Just thinking about finding beetles in Esther's diaper....so gross!
Let me know how the vinegar and pepper goes. I especially hope the pepper works because it's not as bad for the kiddos to get into as the cayenne pepper or chili pepper, but even one bite for Savvy and she'll know not to do that again.
oops...I meant to say "BECAUSE even one bite for Savvy"
This is so good to know, because we are having an ant problem right now too (shocker, as we live across the street). I'm nervous about the chemical options since Jonas is crawling all over and then puts those little hands in his mouth. I should try the vinegar and pepper!
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